Improving the Person or the Environment: Taking a Systematic Approach to Stress in the Workplace

This session will provide participants with a brief background on the importance of stress for an organization’s productivity and bottom-line performance. Participants will learn about some of the techniques available for assessing the importance of particular stressors. Participants will also learn about different categories of stressors (such as environmental, job characteristics, and psychosocial) as well as key professionals that are likely in the best position to influence different types of stressors (e.g., managers, human resource professionals). Finally, participants will have the opportunity to consider various stress interventions and how those interventions influence specific types of stressors. At the conclusion of the session, participants will be asked to identify specific actions, activities, and ideas that they can implement in their own organizations to improve employee well-being and organizational performance outcomes.

Learning Objective 2Identify the benefits and disadvantages of various stress assessment techniques.

Learning Objective 3Classify stressors into unique categories and identify key organizational members and types of interventions that can most influence those stressors.

Learning Objective 4Explain what it means to provide a comprehensive stress management program and assess the gaps within their own organization’s stress program.

Presenters: David C. Munz, PhD and Matthew J. Grawitch, PhD

David C. Munz, PhD, is an organizational psychologist with nationally recognized expertise in organization and management development. He is a professor emeritus of psychology at Saint Louis University, having served on the faculty for more than 40 years. He has been published extensively and has spoken frequently before national business and health care associations. Dr. Munz currently consults to local and national organizations on strategic management, organizational problem-solving, and personal and interpersonal skill development. He is internationally known for his research and development of an organizationally-based stress management training program. Dr. Munz received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Cincinnati and his Masters of Science and PhD in Psychology from the University of Oklahoma. He is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and a charter member of the American Psychological Society.

Matthew J. Grawitch, PhD, is an Associate Professor and Associate Dean of Academic Development in the School for Professional Studies at Saint Louis University. In this role, he teaches courses in the areas of motivation, occupational health, organizational theory, leadership and psychology. He currently serves as the primary research consultant to the American Psychological Association (APA) for its Psychologically Healthy Workplace Program. Dr. Grawitch has received several awards for research excellence and is dedicated to bridging the gap between scientists and practitioners as it relates to developing, implementing and evaluating programs related to organizational health and stress. He is also an internationally-recognized expert on the issues of work-life balance and stress. In addition to his work with APA, Dr. Grawitch performs a variety of services for client organizations in the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors, including strategic planning facilitation and the design and implementation of stress management programs, employee and client surveys, work-life balance, and employee training and development efforts. He is a frequent writer and presenter on psychological health in the workplace. Dr. Grawitch received his doctorate degree in Organizational Psychology from Saint Louis University.

Supplementary Materials

2 User Reviews

"An hour-plus of my life that I will never get back. Tedious beyond belief, did not learn much. I could have reviewed a one-page handout in 5 minutes and saved myself the time. "
— Anonymous

"This is one of the best, most practical webinars I have viewed. So many stress interventions are directed at the individual, but this had a practical approach to dealing with this important issue on an organizational level. "
— Anonymous